2011 Top Health Tips

Women's Health Magazine has put out what they have deemed the Top Health Tips of 2011


You can check out  the article and all the links to the information HERE

Some of the tips include::

Eat Protein for an energy boost 

QUIT SMOKING

"Bad for you" foods - like eggs and peanut butter aren't actually that bad for you or your diet, just eat them in moderation


Click over to the article to learn about these things that can help you live healthier.

Sleep better tip #2

Sleep Stopper #2

Problem:
Lying in bed mentally planning tomorrow's to-do list 

Solution: 
Do a data dump after dinner

At least two hours before bedtime, write out tomorrow's to-do list and jot down a possible solution next to each item. "The only time most of us have a moment to ourselves is when we're trying to fall asleep," says Mark Mahowald, M.D., a neurologist and director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center. And we typically don't spend it calmly recalling last summer's vacation; we use it to worry about unfinished business, he says. Cycling through your thoughts earlier in the evening will desensitize you to them later on. "If you start thinking about a task on the list when you're trying to fall asleep, remind yourself that you have a plan," Arand says. 

Get More Sleep

Sleep Stopper #1

Problem:
Going directly from your desktop to your pillowtop

Solution:Create a routine that sets you up for snoozing

If you give your body cues that it's time for bed, you'll drift off faster once your head hits the pillow. "About 20 minutes before bedtime, step into a hot shower or bath," recommends Michael Breus, Ph.D., author of Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight and Feel Great Through Better Sleep. Warm water relieves muscle tension, and when you step out, the cool air dials down your inner thermostat, mimicking the way your body naturally cools itself during sleep. 


[from womens health magazine]

Fitness Apps

Im going to share some of my favorite health and fitness apps with you today!!

Wellness Tip of the Day

A new easy to follow wellness tip every day.  

There are body tips, food tips, mind tips.

Easy to save into your favorites, or share with your friends on facebook

And its free!!

Nike Training

It's like a personal trainer in your pocket.

You can chose from TONS of different workouts,

Specific ones for getting lean, for getting strong, or for targeting specific areas!

It keeps track of how many hours you use it, lets you save your favorite workouts and tracks your progress.

And its free!!

Jillian Michaels Slim Down Solution

It's like have Jillian Michaels in your pocket.

This app is LOADED -  there are tips for everything like how to read nutrition lables, how to get strong arms, celebrating weight loss

Tons of individual exercises, and intense workouts and circuits

There are recipes...  the mediterranean pizza looks AMAZING

And there is a section where Jillian gives you her advice about many topics about self, science, sweat, and sticky situations.

If having all that amazing information at your figure tips isnt convincing enough... Its FREE!!

What are you waiting for!?

what are your favorite health and wellness apps?

Exercise....

5 foods to limit or avoid

1. Soda... Pop... Soft Drinks... what ever you call them they aren't good for you.  Women who drink 2 or more cans a day have 86% greater chance of kidney failure.  Drinking 2 or more a week increases you chance of pancreatic cancer by 87%

2. Sugar..... excess sugar can accelerate aging, causes high cholesterol, can lead to type 2 diabetes.  Restrict your intake to a maximum of 3tbsp or 18g a day.

3.Oil...... avoid oils high in saturated fast - like palm oil, they increase LDL or bad cholesterol. Using good oils, high in unsaturated fats -like olive oil - these can actually lower LDL

4.Cereal.... most of them have as much sugar as glazed donuts.  Check the ingredients and if the first thing listed is Sugar... throw it away.

5.White rice....  plain.old.empty.calories.  Replace white rice with brown rice or quinoa.

Healthy Food? Dinner Edition

Veggie Burger

Subsituting vegetables for beef isnt necessarily a bad idea.

But veggie burgers are often bound together with cheese, and packed with sodium for flavor.

They also tend to be huge throwing your portion size out of wack

Add a white bun, sugary ketchup, and some mayo and you just might be getting more than 1000 calories

Juice

While 100% juice is an easy way to one of your daily servings of fruit

a 16oz glass or apple or orange juice contains about 55g of carbohydrates... mostly sugar.

(about 12 spoonfuls!!!)

And juice lacks the fibre that is in fruit that fills you up.

Try to stick to one 8oz glass of 100% juice a day or less (thats one fruit serving)

Frozen Diet Dinners

When you take out high calorie fat and sugars... you also take out flavor

To make these dinners taste good they replace this lost flavour with sodium

Which means major water renetion for you

Skip the prepackaged dinners and instead, freeze home made meals into single-portion size dinners.

Use glass containers to avoid any harmful chemicals that can leach out of plastic when it gets heated.

Healthy Foods? Breakfast Edition

Bran Muffin

Bran muffins... well the fibre is good.

But there is so much butter and sugar in these breakfast staples

that they can rack up

420 calories, 20g of fat, and 34g of sugar.

Yikes!

Cream

You put such a small amount in your coffee that it seems harmless right?

But if you add a few spoons to a cup, a couple times a day... the calories start to add up

You could be consuming an extra 200 calories without even thinking about it

Oh and cream has as much fat as a pat of butter

Tip of the day

Bounce back the next day after you eat junk food.

- Celebrity nutritionist Lisa DeFazio

Don't beat yourself up about a bad day.

Making yourself feel bad wont help anything.

So instead, grab your shoes and go for a walk, walk up and down your stairs a bunch of times, hit the gym, or head out for a bike ride

and get back into the swing of things!



Healthy Food?

Over the next few days I will be posting about some foods that might appear healthy but aren't

1. Sushi

 The veggies and seaweed wrap are low-cal

but a lot of the most popular rolls are slathered with cream cheese or mayo

(e.g., in that spicy sauce that comes on many options),

and the seafood inside may be tempura-battered and deep fried

Not to mention the white rice, and often they are filled with imitation crab - not even real fish so you can say good-bye to any potential essential oils benefits

a standard roll can clock in at 500 to 600 calories.

Then you add the tempura battered seafood and veggies side

And dunk everything in a huge dose of Soy Sauce - hellllo sodium

Try to make sushi healthier by skipping the sauce and anything tempura battered,

Asking for brown rice instead of white,

And instead of soy sauce, up the flavour with wasabi or pickled ginger


[from cosmopolitan.com]

Tip of the day

Salad first.

For one week, try eating a big salad before your regular meal. The fiber will help to cleanse your system and fill you up faster so that you eat less calorie rich foods.

- Cory Brusseau, co-founder of Dynamics of Motion

Skip the rich dressing and dried fruit though

Go for a light home made oil and balsamic vinegrette

and add fresh fruit instead.

Havent Been to the Gym Lately?

We all fall of the exercise wagon from time to time.

Work gets to busy, you catch a cold, have family visiting from out of town.

But the chronic affects of not exercising can show up within

2 weeks

So, if its been a few weeks since you last hit the pavement or the gym

Its time to grab your runners!!

Go for a brisk walk, take a yoga class, head to the gym.

Taking an extended break can be bad for your health.

Within 14 days people see an increase in belly fat and elevated cholesterol

Flat Bellies

Well It's that time again....

Everyone starts thinking about swim suit season

and looking for ways to get muscle definition, and flat tummies...

So here are some of my flat belly tips!

Back in 2010 I told you about a German Study that found that

The first 10 minutes of jogging specifically targets visceral fat

Visceral fat is the realllly dangerous type of fat that surrounds your organs...

It contributes to chubby bellies, and makes your organs run less efficiently...

So its really important to reduce this type of fat....

(it typically starts to decrease the fastest after you start exercising... but be patient.. you might not see results right away)

So Step 1

add cardio to your routine.. try to do 3-4 times a week of at least 30 minutes

Step 2

add full core exercise to your regime... instead of just targeting your abs

The Plank

1.Start by lying face down on the ground or use an exercise mat. Place your elbows and forearms underneath your chest.

2.Prop yourself up to form a bridge using your toes and forearms.

3.Maintain a flat back and do not allow your hips to sag towards the ground and don't stick your butt in the air.

-hold for as long as you can focusing on keeping your abs tight and your hips up.. start with 10-15 seconds and work up to 3 minutes

 

T- Stabilizer

Get into a push up position

(a). Shift your weight to your left hand and rotate your body, raising your right arm into the air so that your arms and torso form a T

(b). Hold for one or two seconds, then return to start. That's one rep.

-do as any as you can in 1 minute

 

Nose-to-Knee Crunch

 

Get in plank position with your hands shoulder-width apart on a stability ball

(A). Draw your right knee toward your chest

(B). Hold for 1 second, then return to plank position. That's 1 rep.

-do 2 sets of 12-15 reps

 

Oblique chair lift

Lie on your back with hands resting lightly behind your head, feet on the seat of a low chair or the edge of your couch, knees bent 90 degrees.

Keeping shoulders flat on the ground and knees together, drop knees to the right.

Then pull your bellybutton in and up and lift shoulder blades off the floor, twisting the left shoulder across your body toward your right hipbone.

 Lower to the starting position. That’s one rep;

do 15 reps, then switch sides and repeat.

-do 2 sets of 15 reps on each side.

Step 3

Watch your diet.

Reducing sodium intake will reduce bloating and water retention

Women's Health Magazine has a 1500 Calorie meal plan you can find here

Eat foods that fill you up and keep you feeling full for longer...

Fibre:oatmeal, whole grain bread and pasta, fruit and vegetables,

Protein:use whey protein in your shakes, eggs, beans and legumes, lean meat and fish

Fat: yes you read that right... fat - good fats.  mono and poly unsaturated fats will keep you feeling full

Avocados, olive oil, almonds,

Exercise for your Heart

Everyone has been told a hundred times that they need to exercise.

Its important, not only to maintain a healthy bodyweight, but also necessary to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system

your heart is a muscle

and like any other muscle it needs to be worked and exercised in order to stay healthy

so get your heart pumping, and get your heart rate up every day

-for adults it is suggested to get at least 30 minutes a day -

and that can be broken up into 3-10min session a day

so your goal today.... get 3 session of 10minutes of good cardiovascular exercise

Suggestions:

On your lunch break, go for a brisk walk - it should be fast enough that you can feel your heart rate increase

but not so fast you cant carry on a converstation

Go for at least  10 minutes

When you get home, maybe while catching up on the news

spend 10 minutes - walking/jogging on the spot, go fast, get your knees up and swing your arms

and maybe do some jumping jacks for good measure

Then around 8pm a while after you've had dinner,

Do some boxing.  Make little hops back and forth between each foot

get your arms up in front of your face and alternate punching out with each arm

(for an extra challenge, instead of hopping - sink down into a deep squat and hold it as long as you can while boxing)

There! You have done 30 minutes of exercise

and done something great for your heart.

Heart Month

February is Heart Month

Its time to learn your risk factors

learn how to reduce them

and take care of your heart

click here, here and here to see previous posts about heart disease

and check back throughout the next couple weeks

for posts on heart health

Tips for a Good Spine

Dont be a slouch - maintain a neutral curve in your low back while sitting. Avoid over cushioned chairs and put a foam roll in the small of your low back
Watch repetitive lifting - doing a lot of lifting in the same manner and direction can injure your back over time by execeeding the endurance of the back soft tissue
Stay strong - a well supported back depends on strong muscles. A few simple exercises can tone your abdominals and sides of the trunk - click here for 4 moves for a stronger core
Dont sit still - if you have a job that requires you sit for a long period of time remember to get up and move around. This helps boost circulation to your spine. Try to get up for a couple minutes at least every hour
Dont lose sleep - make sure you have the right mattress - it shouldnt be too firm or too saggy. Most research generally support a relatively firm mattress
Dont stress - stress can magnify your back pain - so try to relax

{source:lifemark healthier you newsletter}

{image}

Fight the Flu Part 4

Sick of hot water with lemon?

Drink hot water with 1-2 Tbsp of Brewers Yeast

It might be pretty gross and bitter BUT it can help fight off the flu, diarrhea, and respiratory illness.

It is packed full of B vitamins - B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B9 (folic acid), and H or B7 (biotin).  (but no Vit.B12 -which is found in meat products)

It can also help support the nervous system, help maintain the muscles used for digestion, and keep skin, hair,(it may even prevent the graying of hair) eyes, mouth, and liver healthy.

If you are taking any medications though, make sure to talk to your doctor before you start taking brewers yeast because it can interact with a lot of medications.

It also has not been tested on children - so maybe still with the hot lemon for the kids!

{source}

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source for the past four tips

{vitamin G}

and the Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick

Happpy New Years

Happy New Years!

Its a big time for new goals and resolutions.

So I wanted to share a few tips with everyone.

 1. If, like everyone else, you decided to hit the gym in January - here are some things to keep in mind

- the gyms push sales and target resolutioners in January - and pretty much abandon you come February

- because of this gyms can be super crowded during the first month of the year

-so do be frustrated.

instead of joining the gym right away, start small at home

Start by walking 2 nights a week.

During a tv show you watch in the evenings, do push ups, sit ups, or walk up and down your stairs during the commercials

-after a month of success, if you want, start looking in to the gyms. - you'll be more confident, and already be used to being a little more active

-if exercising at home works for you, think about an exercise dvd, add another night of walking, or walk farther or faster.

2. when it comes to making your new years goals here's some tips:

-write them down - and post them where you can see them every day

-tell people about them, sharing them makes you more accountable

-make them very specific, and measurable (ex. instead of "walk twice a week" make your goal "walk Monday and Wednesday evening, for 20 minutes, right after dinner"

-don't be afraid if you have to adjust them after a few weeks - having goals set in stone can make you feel bad if you cant succeed. 

-With New Years its easy to want to set big goals and think about the whole 12 months at a time

but its okay to start small, start with one or two weeks at a time.

it will be a lot less daunting and you will be more likely to stick with it!

What are your goals for this up coming year - health and exercise related and everything else?

Work hours

People who work 60 hours a week

are TWICE as likely to have a heart attack

than people who would 40 hours a week.

So for your own health, take a break, get home for dinner

and make this a new years resolution

only 40 hours a week.

{image from http://www.unplggd.com/}

Thinking about exercising?

Are you sitting there thinking "I should exercise"

-I will go to the gym tomorrow

-on monday I am going to start running again

-my New Years resolution will be to go to the gym 3 times a week

-as soon as the holidays are over I will start exercising again

well STOP

stop putting off your exercise and start TODAY

change those thoughts to things like

-Lets got for a walk after dinner

-I am going to the gym today after work

-Im going to hot yoga this morning

-Instead of tv, Im going to run - right now